Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average (100000018) ended up 1% at 9,561.01, Taiwan’s Taiex (Y9999) gained 0.9% to 7,563.18 and China’s Shanghai Composite Index (000001) finished 0.8% higher at 2,406.81. Australian and New Zealand markets were closed for a holiday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) dropped 0.2% to 20,646.29 and South Korea’s Kospi (SEU) slipped 0.1% to 1,961.98. They were unable to hang on to their early advances in cautious, choppy trading ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision later in the day.

Shares of mainland property developers also climbed in Hong Kong despite the broader market weakness, with some analysts also anticipating further gains in the near-term.

“In the first quarter, the Chinese economy was slowing down, but people in the market expect there will be a recovery in the second quarter. I think that will be good for Chinese property plays and the cement sector,” said Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities.

But weighing on the Hang Seng Index, shares of Internet major Tencent Holdings Ltd.
TCEHY, +1.22%
(700) tumbled 4.7% after a strong run recently. Tencent stock is still up nearly 46% in the year to date.

The losses for Tencent came after Chinese Internet peer Baidu Inc.’s
BIDU, +0.72%
forecast for the second-quarter fell short of some expectations. Baidu shares plunged in U.S. after-hours trading Tuesday, although it reported a 76% increase in first-quarter profit.

“The Apple results are positive for its Asia supply chain,” Kirk Yang, head of tech hardware for Asia excluding Japan at Barclays, wrote in a note to clients.

“We remain positive on the supply chain, but still see stock price volatility from news flow ahead of the iPhone 5 launch (expected in Sept/Oct) on inventory clearance ahead of the launch in the next two quarters (June & Sept). We look for a strong iPhone 5 launch to drive shares higher toward year-end,” he said.

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